Oil repellent protector for shoes



April 10, 1945. m 2,373,596.

OIL REPELLANT PROTECTOR FOR SHOES Filed Feb. 17, 1944 I TTO/F/YE) Patented Apr. 10, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OIL REPELLENT PROTECTOR FOR SHOES George Popik, Hartford, Conn.

Application February '17, 1944, Serial No. 522,731

1 Clailn.

My invention relates to devices that may be readily and quickly applied over the uppers of shoes to effectively prevent access of oil to such uppers, and an object of my invention, amon others, is the production of a device of this type that will not absorb oil but will effectively shed it and prevent accumulation thereof on the protector or access of the oil to the shoe. v

One form of a protector embodying my invention and in the construction and use of. which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained is illustrated in the accompanyin drawing, in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view showing the application of my improved protector to a pair of shoes for the protection thereof.

Figure 2 is a perspective view looking at the under side of the protector shown in its collapsed and normal form.

Figure 3 is a view on enlarged scale in vertical lengthwise section through the toe portion of a shoe howing the application of my improved protector thereto.

Figure 4 is a view in cross section through one side of said toe on a plane denoted by the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The accumulation of oil on the uppers of shoes of operatives of machine tools is a source of great annoyance, the oil being splashed in considerable I quantities by the machines in operation. The objection exists from the fact that the oil penetrates the shoe uppers and thereby gains access to the feet of the operatives the annoyance from which requires no explanation, and another and equally valid objection results from the fact that the oil eats away and destroys the shoe uppers which is a most material disadvantage at the present time owing to the difficulty imposed by rationing laws to replace the shoes thus quickly destroyed by the absorption of the oil. Contact of shoe soles with the oil that collects in considerable quantities on the floors of buildings in which machine tools are in operation is not a seriou matter for the reason that shoe soles are usually composed of more solid, thick and less absorbent material than are the shoe uppers and the oil collecting on the soles is soon dissipated by contact in walking with surfaces as the ground, floors and the like not having oil thereon. In an attempt to produce a protector for shoes that meets and avoids all of the objections attention needs to be paid to a material of which the protector is composed which material shall have characteristics enabling the protectors to be read- 11y and quickly applied to the shoes and securely retain them in place and at the same time which will effectively prevent oil from getting in contact with the shoe uppers. An important feature of the invention i the employment of a material to comprise the protector which material shall have flexible, resilient, and non-absorbent qualities so that while being deformable it will readily spring back to its normal form and at the same time will instantly repel any absorptive action of oil on the surface thereof. Most materials having flexible; elastic, springy qualities also have absorptive tendencies and it has therefore been essential to guard against this feature. Since the advent of plastics there have come into existence certain forms which are extremely thin, which are resilient to an extent to cause return to normal form when deformed and which have smooth, glossy surfaces which serve as an effective repellent for oil and the protector forming the subject matter of this invention is therefore characterized as having resilient oil non-absorptive qualities.

In the accompanying drawing shoes equipped with my improved protector are shown, the nu meral 6 denoting the sole, 1 the heel, 8 the counter and 9 the ankle part just above the counter, all of which are of common and ordinary form. The protector as hereinbefore intimated is composed of extremely thin material about 1000 of an inch thick having been found satisfactory. It is composed of any of the common resilient plastics having smooth glossy surfaces and comprises a toe cover l0 and a shoe upper,part I I all of which are made to conform generally to the shape of the front of the shoe comprising the toe and upper portions, with the exception that it is curled under as to opposite edges so that in its normal form it is considerably narrower than the shoe as shown in Fig. 2, the sides i2 extending well down around the ankle part 9 of the shoe. This shape enables the protector to be readily applied to the shoe when on the foot of the wearer as the protector is deformed by spreading the sides apart and placing it on the shoe and when released the resilient character will cause the article to snap into position and tightly hug the shoe. The bottom edges of the cover are preferably curved slightly inward formin lips I3 that will bite into the groove l4 formed at the union of the shoe upper with the sole as shown in Fig. 4.

As a further aid in retaining the article in place a toe clip l5 may be applied to the toe and side clip ['6 to the side or at the bottom edges of the shield, said clips extending into the groove l4 ahead of the lips i3.

An important feature of the invention consists in stays l1 comprising somewhat narrow strips of material pivotally attached at their inner ends to ears I8 at the upper ends of the side 12 of the article, such stay being tucked in between the upper edge of the shoe and the ankle of the wearer to retain the upper end of the cover in place as shown in Fig. 1.

I claim:

An oil repellent shoe cover formed to fit over 1 I the upper part of a shoe and composed of thin, resilient oil repellent material oi a form normally narrower than the shoe but deformable by spreading to fit over the shoe and resiliently tightly envelop it, and stay pivotally attached to opposite sides of the cover and adapted to be tucked in between the upper edge of the shoe and the ankle of the wearer.

GEORGE POPIK. 

